I am pretty much against moral ideals being taught alongside martial arts altogether, except insofar as they directly relate to martial arts training itself (don't be a dick to your uke, etc.).

I'm a little torn. Though I have reservations, I do like the idea of students getting some direction, regarding how they apply the skills they are being taught, in (and out of) the gym.

Not so much moral authority stuff, more like steering the change that martial training/ability brings upon someone, toward something constructive for society in general.

This actual superhero thing? Not sure. Guardian Angels 2.0 with gadgets. Gotta be lots of gadgets, in which case, as technology available to ordinary civilians increases exponentially, there could be some effect there, some day.

Who decides what's constructive, though? The instructor? Who says he knows any better than I do?

Nothing requires they be better, to offer a little sound advice along with the martial training. Not someone telling students how to set their table, or how to dress/speak, mind you.

Something along the lines of "now you're getting some combat skill, try not to get into too many fights, if you can avoid them, and respect what you can now do to your average person, and what the law will do to you if you **** up".

We were encouraged, from time to time, to "keep it in the gym". That meaning, don't wail on people just because you can.

I didn't feel preached to, and took the advice to heart.

That's all I mean. I don't like the "hey let me teach you to take people apart, and whatever you do outside of the gym doesn't matter to me" attitude. Instructors (rightly) only have so much say in a students life, but nudging them toward not abusing people with their skills, I don't think would hurt.

As should surprise nobody, I have a decent number of contacts in the RLSH community, and even created my own recreational crimefighting identity (Super-King, King of Superheroes) to wandering around Chicago with a bunch of them once.
Anyways, in my experience, they range from Delightfully Eccentric to Clearly Off Their Meds.
Anyways, god bless them, every one. Are there more effective avenues of social justice? Probably. Are there more entertaining avenues of social justice? HELL NO.

The fool thinks himself immortal,
If he hold back from battle;
But old age will grant him no truce,
Even if spears spare him.

Well you do. Which is why you seek the training in the first place. In all sorts of ways you are being trained in how to think when you do martial arts. That is just the reality of training.

I seek training because the martial arts are fun and interesting and good exercise. I don't go there for spiritual or moral guidance. How is training teaching people "how to think", except thinking that directly relates to training?

I seek training because the martial arts are fun and interesting and good exercise. I don't go there for spiritual or moral guidance. How is training teaching people "how to think", except thinking that directly relates to training?

because martial arts is a mental and emotional game as well as a physical one and to achieve the best results you have to condition all three elements of that.

This is why people have trainers in all sorts of feilds of endeveor. Why elite athletes use sports psycologists and motivational coaches.

If you head is not right you are only doing half the training.

And I don't want to train with a bunch of duche bags. So I like a standard set.

I am pretty much against moral ideals being taught alongside martial arts altogether, except insofar as they directly relate to martial arts training itself (don't be a dick to your uke, etc.). Morihei Ueshiba's philosophy didn't stop Steven Seagal from being the biggest douchebag in the known universe. The Tenets of Taekwondo didn't stop Angel Matos from kicking an Olympic judge in the face. And what qualifies a martial arts instructor to be a moral authority, anyway?

New Age rant:

When I teach tai chi, I teach the physical side of it along with tai chi philosophical concepts, because the two are related. The way you stand and breathe and apply force have an underlying philosophy about the yin/yang etc- concepts that can be used more generally than just fighting. Push hands is philosophy in motion. In this case, though, that's kinda unrelated to teaching kids a bunch of "respect your elders" and "give Choi the first portion of your income" rules for life outside the dojo. More of an antiquated owner's manual of how to pilot your meatship without crashing painfully into others.

A martial arts teacher is also generally more knowledgeable about how bad an idea it is to go out getting in fights than the beginner martial arts student who's trained a few months, feels way more confident than he should be, and is pretty sure he can kick a lot of ass.

Martial arts without the culture is like going on holiday and eating at Maccas

Can I assume, then, that your instructors have spent a lot of time in your arts' countries of origin, studying the culture, so that they can teach it accurately?

The problem with the whole "martial arts need culture" argument is the most of the people making it don't really know anything about the culture. The result is that most of the "culture" being taught alongside martial arts is movie fantasy.